A Really Good Dream
by Thera Menders
Summary: Fiction/Fantasy, an original that had to be put somewhere. An easy life on a farm turns into years of war, and Miki Mikayla soon meets an old friend, who has been changed by the war. Pain and longing war with missplaced obligations. Rated for yuuummines
1. My Home

I was good friends with both of them, so I didn't really care what they did. When I walked in on the tail end of sex, it didn't really faze me. I could have sat in his room with a book in hand and they wouldn't have cared. It was casual for them—so casual that when I walked in, they were just hopping up from the bed, Amy giving her rich-lady panties a tweak to straighten them, and Danny just yanking his soft cotton pants back up.

Amy was looking a little rosy as she strode over to me, running her fingers through her hair.

"Breakfast's ready," I said, and Amy—my best friend since cribs—threw me a wink.

"Marry a farmboy, Miki," she said as she walked past. "They're the last real men alive."

Yup. My eyes swept over to Danny as he was walking up. He wasn't a big, hulking guy, but I doubt there was a single ounce of fat on the guy. And he looked so good in those loose pants. They hung just perfectly on his hips, the soft material loose enough that it hid his perfect form until he moved, and then…My brain's just as dirty as the next girl, I suppose, but I'd never really felt any romantic attachment to Danny. He was like a brother to me, and I respected him because he was tough, and because he was working all this land on his own. I just happened to be happy I was alive when he got up in the morning and walked downstairs in those pants.

"Sure thing Ames. Just not this farmer," I said, and Danny chuckled as he walked past me and dropped a kiss on my cheek.

"You all packed up, Ames?" I asked as I padded along behind them, comfy in the huge shirt I'd stolen from Danny after he'd worn it too thin to work in. It had a lot of holes in it, but it served just fine. Amy yawned as she skipped down the stairs.

"All packed up," she said. "I was just saying my goodbyes," she said as she leaned back against Danny. Surprised, he grinned and wrapped his arms around her, lifting her off the ground. She squealed in delight as she was hefted out onto the porch, where I'd set up the table for breakfast.

Amy was leaving for school in the Glades, where all the rich kids went to get their training for a journeyman's knot—and any rich kid that graduated from that bunch was almost guaranteed a position in the higher classes. They would serve the king, building up their own reputation and family business, and then would leave to claim their own lands. It was a good opportunity, but this was probably the last time the three of us would see each other for a while.

I dished up the eggs, bacon, biscuits, butter, and pancakes I'd made. The butter looked a little like a blob of goo, but I was still getting used to having a cow to milk in the mornings, let alone make butter with the cream. I will never claim to be a farmer, but I have to admit, the home-grown stuff is tasty.

The biscuit fight didn't start until half way through the meal, when Amy tried to toss a piece of biscuit into Danny's mouth and missed. She dissolved into laughter when it hit him in the eye and bounced off his shoulder, and he grinned before tossing another piece back at her. I tore off a chunk of my own biscuit and wound up. Amy mimicked me, and Danny threw up his hands.

"WAIT! Hold up, that's not fair," he said, and me and Amy shot a glance at each other before letting loose.

It was fine. We had extras, since I always count on Danny eating like a horse, and besides, it was Amy's last day.

When we finished, Danny and Amy went inside to throw on some clothes. I cleaned up as the carriage came, and watched through the front window as Amy walked down and got in. The attendants picked up her luggage and tossed it on top.

Then she was gone, just like that. We hadn't said goodbye today because we'd tearfully agreed not to last night.

Technically, Amy owned this place. Her parents were both rich and absent, so she spent most of her time here. Her brother ran their plantation (and oh my god I have never seen a more beautiful mansion anywhere). Danny kind of took us both in. He'd lost his family too, and was doing a fine job holding up the place. It was a lot of work, but he had never been one to whine.

I finished washing the dishes as Danny came back down the stairs. He was wearing a faded blue cotton shirt and boots now, and his sun-bleached blond hair was slicked back. The sun was easy here, unlike to the west, so he usually didn't wear a hat except for the hottest days of summer.

"Heading out then?" I asked. He nodded.

"I'm going to miss her," he said.

"Me too." It was the truth. In fact, I was fairly sure that I would cry myself to sleep tonight. I never cry, but I still felt like I was in shock, waiting for the realization to dawn on me that she was really gone.

He chuckled and walked up to kiss me. "Take care," he said, and with one hand on my back he reached around to grab up the bottle of water I'd gotten for him. He liked to use the old wine bottles I'd saved, so I always had one ready when he went out.

"You too. Don't let that demonic horse get the best of you," I said, and he laughed outright before dropping another kiss on my head.

He occasionally trained horses for Amy's brother, and I occasionally helped. He'd never asked a lot of me though, ever since I all but died in the edge of the woods on his property—neither him nor his parents, who had taken me in at the time. I was born a gypsy, and sometimes I walk out into the woods at night to practice my tumbling, but I like living here much better. It's only been ten years, but I feel like I've always lived here.

Time to clean the house. There isn't a whole lot to do besides sweep, because I had one of my fits yesterday and cleaned everything. It was probably because Amy was leaving, but anyway it didn't leave much to do today. A few of Danny's clothes needed patching, but that took all of twenty minutes. I had the bedrooms straightened twenty minutes, and dinner prepped and stored in the cellar another hour after that. I didn't feel like making much today, so I would just serve the rest of last night's meat pie and a few extras. I'd patched the leaky roof a couple days ago, and the cow had already been milked and fed this morning. The chickens never needed to be let out, unlike the neighbors', because their pen was large enough for them to wander in. They were fed and happy, and the eggs were brought in. So…all I had left was the scribing Amy's family had hired me to do. It made for a good bit of extra money, but I'd been up late and finished most of it last night. It wasn't due until the day after tomorrow, so I had plenty of time.

I sighed and decided to go for a swim in the glade before I started dinner. Then maybe Danny would need some help with the afternoon chores.

Nobody but Amy and her family can afford swimsuits around here, so my favorite place to swim is a small glade at the north end of the property, where the stream came over the side of a small cliff and a large pool had gathered. It was a lovely spot, surrounded by woods, and private enough to serve a girl without a swimsuit. The walk to it was nice, and the sun was warm on my back. I've never had to worry about burning, because my skin turns a nice golden tan in the summer. In winter it gets a little yellow if I don't get out in the sun, but I've never burned more than my nose and a little skin on my shoulders, so I never wear a hat and my shirt can hang off my shoulders to warm my skin. The lovely ladies at court like to keep their skin white, but I look awful if I haven't been out with Danny in the fields.

Of course, he didn't need much help now, which left me with little to do each day.

The woods were cool and quiet when I walked into them. Everywhere else, bugs were making that oddly pleasing racket, and the breeze was rustling through the field. Mm, the flowers smelled lovely. My leather shoes don't make much noise on last year's layer of dead leaves, which has always been kinda nice because I've always enjoyed sneaking up on Danny. The tree bark felt good against my palm as I walked along, running my hand along every tree as I pass. The sound of the stream came to me after a while, and I grinned before picking up the pace. No one was around, so as soon as I broke into the little glade, with its moist air and sparkling sunbeams, I started peeling off my clothes. Ah, what a beautiful day. The water in the air had been warmed by the sun, and the soft grass under my feet felt like a lush carpet. The mud felt good too as I trudged into the water, then dove in.

There was no place more beautiful for hundreds of miles, and no one knew about it but Danny, me, and Amy.

The sound of the water lapping around me made for a beautiful melody. The waterfall's continuous crashing was loud enough to drown out most other noises, but the gentle gurgle of the stream is something special.

I hadn't been swimming long, however, before I noticed movement out of the corner of my eye. Danny was standing at the edge of the clearing, his shirt tied around his waist.

He grinned at me. "What are you doing here, Miki? You shouldn't have worked up a sweat in the house."

"Danny!" I swore, and ducked down into the water. He laughed.

"That doesn't help, just so you know. The water's as clear as a cloudless sky in the middle of summer."

I rolled my eyes and turned away to swim farther away. I heard a splash a moment later, and looked back to spot Danny's clothes by mine on the shore. Uh oh.

I had already started panicking by the time he grabbed my hips and pulled me under. I kicked and let out a rush of bubbles that was supposed to be a scream, and tried to pull away from the arm he wrapped around me. I had to wiggle around to wedge my foot between us, and I shoved off from his chest to erupt into the air. I took a great gulp of air just before Danny came up, laughing of course, and I promptly sent as much water in his direction as my cupped hand could handle.

"Dammit, Danny!" He was sidling up to me again, and I splashed him to keep him at a distance as I tried to kick away. He laughed and grabbed one of my ankles, and pulled me back to dunk me under the water.

Damn him. I twisted out from under his hand and came back up, spitting out threats that I fully intended to carry through…at the time. He just kept on grinning like a schoolboy, and dashed in for a kiss. His lips were surprisingly cool against mine, and I splashed him again.

"You lech," I said, and started swimming for shore. "I'm going back to start dinner."

Danny had grabbed my wrist before I got very far though. "Not yet. I have to get back to work soon too, so just stay for a minute little sis."

My answer was planting a foot against his conveniently hard stomach and shoving myself out of his grip. He bobbed in the water, probably pouting at my back as I swam over to the side and got to shallow water. I glanced back.

"Don't look!" I said, and he rolled his eyes before turning around in the water.

"As if you have anything worth looking at!" He teased, and I grabbed a handful of mud and tossed it at his head. My aim is good, so it hit him right on his crown and started dribbling down onto his shoulders.

"Hey!" He shouted, and started turning around.

"Don't!" I scrambled for my clothes. "Or you can make your own dinner!" I glanced behind as I grabbed up my shirt, and caught him looking. "Damn it, Danny! Don't look!" I maneuvered my skirts around behind me and picked up my pants and shirt before dashing out of the glade.

Danny, of course, was still laughing.

I didn't care what he did with Amy. I'd seen both of them nude before, and it wasn't a big deal. It became a big deal when it was me.

I dressed just before I left the woods and walked back to the house barefoot, realizing too late that my shoes had been forgotten. Then I fumed the whole way back to the house. Danny had never had much shame, the jerk. I wouldn't really care except that I'd been dreaming about him lately.

Dinner was hot and ready by the time he came in the door. He dropped by shoes next to his, and walked over to kiss me on the cheek.

"Sorry," he said with his hand on the small of my back, and I sighed. He knew I couldn't stay angry with him when he did that. Sometimes, I have to admit, I like to pretend to be crabby just so he has a chance to work his charm on me. Danny was one of those cunning jerks who knew how to use sweet remarks like a weapon. Meany. I never stand a chance.

I looked up at him with a frustrated expression in my face, determined to at least keep up a front—and hopefully make him worry that I wouldn't forgive him. He reached up to touch my nose and I melted.

"Fine!" I said, and gave up. "Just go wash up or you can eat outside with the horses."

Danny laughed as he dropped his water bottle by the sink and went back out to clean off. He came back in with a soaked shirt—idiot had practically immerged himself—and peeled it off to run up the stairs for dry clothes. I loooooove to watch him take off his shirt…though I made sure to be covert about it.

I set the food on the table, and he came back down in my favorite pair of pants and a light cotton shirt that hung very nicely across his shoulders. He slapped my butt as he walked to the other end of the table, and I kicked him in the side. He laughed.

"Idiot," I said, and plopped down in my chair.

The rest of the evening went by in a blur. I did the dishes, worked on the scribing, and then went to bed. I couldn't sleep though, and lay awake for several hours just staring at the ceiling. It had finally hit me that Amy was gone, I think. It was just me and Danny now, and my chest ached. I was already missing her terribly, and she'd only been gone a day.

I heard the front door close after a while, and listened to Danny's footsteps come up the stairs. He went into his room and shut the door, and silence fell again. I sighed and rolled onto my side. When staring at the wall didn't help, I finally decided it was time to practice my meditation. My gypsy family had taught it to me, and it was the only thing that helped me sleep some nights.

It took several attempts, but I was finally able to clear my mind and relax my muscles. Sleep, I told my brain, and finally felt myself drifting into unconsciousness.

Well, it was just my luck I suppose, but it was waiting there for me again tonight. I felt Danny touching me the way he touched Amy, and I loved it. I loved the warmth of his skin against mine, and the feeling that ran through my body with his fingers against my flesh. Mm…his kisses tasted sweet and salty, and his skin smelled like a sharp spice and clean sweat. My fingers were in his hair. I knew what his hair felt like, because I'd touched it often enough in the past. It ran through my fingers like warm spider's silk.

Ah…he was kissing me again, and in me. Ah…I love him…

I woke up with a start, shaken again by the strength of the dream's emotions. Dammit, I'd been losing sleep for the past month because of that dream, and because I saw Danny as my brother. It was messing with my head, and I couldn't sleep.

I stared at the ceiling again, unable to gather my thoughts enough to meditate back into oblivion, and sighed. I have no idea how much time passed, or when I finally threw the covers off, but suddenly I was leaving my room behind and knocking on Danny's door.

"Hmm?" He didn't sound like he'd been sleeping, so I opened the door and walked in.

"I can't sleep," I said, and pulled back the covers on the empty side of his bed to crawl in. He made room for me and stretched out his arm for me to settle against his side. It was almost disgusting how quickly I started relaxing when I felt his arm wrap around me. I loved how easy it was to be with him.

"You miss her that bad?" he asked.

"You didn't seem to be sleeping either," I said.

"Mm. That's why I asked," he said, and sighed. He sounded sad, so I decided to change the subject.

"Remember when all four of us used to sleep together?" I settled my cheek against his bare chest and took in a deep, contented breath.

He chuckled. "Yeah."

When his family first took me in, there were many nights when I couldn't sleep. When Danny found out, he told his parents, and they got just about as mad as I've ever seen anyone. They told me to come to them whenever I couldn't sleep, and for some reason, the next time I spent half the night staring at the ceiling, I found myself in front of their door, with Danny right behind me, holding my hand. We both climbed into bed with his parents, and even though it was a tight fit, it felt like the safest place in the world, with Danny still holding my hand and his mother's arms wrapped around me. When they died, Danny and I spent the first month in their bed, too heartbroken to seek our separate beds. I hadn't done this in a while because Amy had been here, but tonight it felt like old times.

He kissed the top of my head again, and I drifted off to sleep, so content that the damn dream didn't bother me again.


	2. My Flight

Maybe I should have been more upset, but Danny kept letting me sleep with him at night, and the dream didn't come back. I was content again, so it was easy to whistle while I worked in the fields and kept the house clean. I turned in the scribe work early, and went riding with Danny and the new horse he was breaking in.

The world felt right again, even though the absence of Amy's friendly—and occasionally crude—chatter left a gaping hole in my heart. Danny and Amy were the two most important people in my life, and with Amy gone it felt like half my heart was missing.

But hey! The pumper was still ticking…or…whatever. It wasn't until our neighbor came tearing through the fields on his horse that I realized it wouldn't last. Danny and I were just taking a break in the shade of a large oak. I hadn't packed much for lunch, but we hadn't felt like returning to the house so I'd just brought along some cold meat, bread, cheese, and some old beer. It tasted pretty good, if I do say so myself, but I forgot all about it when young Alan pulled his horse to a halt next to us and started panting out a message.

"The king's been killed!" That was all he managed to get out on his first try. I stood up immediately, but wasn't nearly as fast as Danny, who immediately strode up to the horse and grabbed the reigns.

I have seen Danny look serious a few times. Honestly, I think the grin was as much a mask as it was his nature, but right now he was scaring me. "Alan! What happened? What do you mean the king's dead?" Danny tone was intense.

I think I still had food in my mouth, but I was so shocked that I couldn't swallow. If the king was dead, then we were in deep shit. Amy's family, the D'jyons, had been loyal followers for at least three generations, and any new king would be sure to know that.

"He…was assassinated…" Alan gasped for air. "There's a war sprung up between lords, trying to take the throne back, and the new king is killing off everyone he thinks will try to fight against him." Danny looked back at me, and I finally swallowed. I'm surprised I didn't choke with how dry my throat had suddenly become. Alan took another deep breath. "Nathan D'jyons eldest son has already been killed for supporting the old king. You have to get out of here, because they're burning down all the D'jyon's holdings!"

Danny nodded. "Okay, thanks Alan. Get back to your family and get out. Has Rob been warned?"

Alan nodded, saving his gasps for nothing but breathing. Danny turned the horse around and let go of the reins to slap the horse's flanks. "Now get going!" Alan tore off back in the direction he'd been coming, and Danny turned back to grab my hand.

"Come on," he said, and we abandoned our lunch to tear back through the fields to our home. It seemed to take a lot longer than it should have, and by the time we were running up the porch, my lungs were burning and my muscles were cramping.

"Just get what you need!" Danny called as he let go of my hand and tore up the stairs. I went up behind him and dashed into my room. There was only one thing I really wanted to bring along, and that was a small bundle I kept in the trunk at the base of my bed. It contained my most precious possessions (including my semi-meager savings), and after I'd grabbed it out, taken my riding clothes, daggers, cloak, and boots out of the wardrobe, I ran back downstairs. I stuffed all my clothing into one sack that I unearthed from under the sink, and in the second one I began stuffing all the food I could get my hands on.

Danny came back down the stairs in his leather riding gear and his father's hauberk, with his family's sword strapped to his back, a sack in one hand, and a staff in the other.

"Ready?" He asked.

I nodded. "Almost."

He went out the door then, and I followed after a few minutes with my burdens. He was getting the horses ready. We personally owned two, and Danny had been training one for Amy's brother. He had all three out and was getting them ready. I personally hate the highborn saddles, which are made out of a soft wood and a bunch of padding. Danny's saddles are just thick blankets over a straw mat, and it's far more comfortable. Thank God, because I had a feeling we were going to be riding for a while. Danny took my sacks, and I pulled out my belt of throwing daggers from my time as a gypsy and strapped them around my waist.

I'd never really grown out of my other life, and my clothes reflected it. My skirts have never been whole skirts…just a nod at femininity with a bunch of strips of cloth that I wore over my pants. Made it a lot easier to move around and ride when I needed to. I could tumble, trick ride, and fight if needed.

I sure hoped it wasn't needed.

Danny had almost finished saddling up the horses when they came. There were at least a dozen of them, and I had just swung up into the saddle of my bay mare, Sassy. Danny dropped the last rope and turned to yank out his sword. They closed in so fast that I barely knew they were there before Danny had taken off the front legs of the first horse, and then stabbed the rider as the horse crumpled. The second was on him so fast that by the time I had arrived at his side, Danny was bleeding and the second attacker was dead. I threw one of my knives at the third, and it hit him square between the eyes.

"Get the horse!" Danny shouted, and I leaned out in my saddle to grab up the reigns of the stallion Amy's brother had bought. The horse was rearing up in the air, either terrified or ready for battle, and I coulda tanned his black hide if I hadn't been so desperate to get out of there so Danny didn't have to stay and protect my butt. I gathered every muscle in my body and actually managed to yank that horse back onto all fours. I kicked poor Sassy in the sides—I would apologize later—and she tore out of there so fast you'd think she knew we were about to get slaughtered. There were three mounted soldiers right on top of us, and I urged Sassy to shoulder one of them aside. I nearly met the sharp end of the rider's drawn blade, but my years of trick riding sent me flat back against Sassy's haunches, and the sword went singing through the air right above my chest. Ee gads. I was almost a dead woman.

Abyss, the stallion, actually kicked the next guy's horse so hard that the rider was thrown from the spooked mount, and the third guy was left trying to get his rearing horse under control. Suddenly I was home free. I glanced back just as three more riders were bearing down on Danny, but he was half-way on his horse and already on the move. We tore out of the yard, with several of the men on our tails.

Before we left, though, I saw them throw torches into our home.

I had a sick feeling that we would never be coming back.

********************

"Are you all right?" Danny asked.

We knew every backwoods trail in this part of the country, and though losing our pursuers hadn't been easy, we'd done it. One guy got knocked clean off his horse by a low branch, and Danny had killed another one. The last two finally gave up after we put some distance between us and then crossed into the legendary gryphon feeding grounds.

The Wastes. Yay.

"I haven't been shaking this much since training with the gypsies," I said, and I let him pull me off Sassy since I couldn't seem to detach myself. He left me to stand as he pulled the horses back into a small cave and tied them to stakes he hammered into the ground with the hilt of his sword.

I looked around. Night was falling. We'd ridden a long way since the middle of the day, and we'd officially entered unfamiliar territory. In all of Faullen, the part of the country where I'd lived with Danny had been the least dangerous. We were now in lands where gryphon's, maybe dragons, definitely wolves, panthers, and lots of warped creatures from the last war prowled, looking for fresh meat. I hurried after Danny and settled down by the back wall to stare at the outside landscape.

It was barren, craggy, and shaped like warm icing after I'd stuck a spoon flat on it and pulled away. All sorts of jagged hills that weren't exactly hills ranged around us, full of caves and valleys in which it would be easy for a predator to hide.

I was scared, but not nearly as scared as I should have been. I couldn't wrap my mind around it. There was no way my home was gone…again.

I felt Danny's arms wrap around me after a while, and he pulled me onto his lap to wrap a blanket around both of us. I sat between his legs, my back resting against his chest, and rested my head back against his shoulder as he buried his face against my neck.

I wanted to say something to break the silence. If felt unnatural, but maybe that was just my nerves, so I searched for something to say. I couldn't think of anything though, and nothing even came up far enough to open my mouth. I just stared blankly, and wondered what would happen to us now.

"Where did you learn to fight?" I asked finally. I don't know why that was the first thing out of my mouth, but there it was.

He sighed against my neck. "My father was a soldier. He taught me how to fight."

"I never saw him teach you something like that," I said.

"Mother didn't like it, so he never taught me anywhere she could see."

I nodded, and the silence fell again. Desperate to keep it away, I spoke again. "What now?"

"We find someone who can help us," he said.

"Who?"

"Not sure." He sighed again, and after that, I gave up trying to make conversation. We ate a little, and fell asleep without a fire, so that no one would find us by its light. Nothing came for us during the night, for which I was grateful. Gryphons were said to hunt at night…

The morning came and the horses declared their readiness to be out and about. I woke up when Danny got up, because it got cold really fast without his arms around me. We ate breakfast, and then set out again. We didn't talk much. I just followed Danny's dappled grey Morgan—named Morgan—and pulled along Abyss, which was occasionally quite a feat because he was taller, stronger, and weighed more than poor Sassy. She got yanked around by him sometimes, but I refused to hand over the Fresian stallion's reigns. I wanted Danny's hands free in case we ran into trouble, and after asking to let him take Abyss for the third time, he finally gave up.

The landscape stayed the same for the next few days. There wasn't much water, so we rationed the little that I'd brought. The sun was hot, my clothes were starting to smell like dead fish, and I was beginning to worry that we would not make it out of this place. Danny seemed to know where he was going, and I noticed as we went along that he was leading us around several fairly nasty areas. We bypassed a foul-smelling swamp, managed not to attract any gryphon, and even managed to avoid a pride of foul looking, really big cats. They were tearing apart the carcass of some poor animal, and I just about fell off of Sassy when I saw them. Danny warned me to silence though, and I held my breath as we rode along the upper ridge of the ravine where they fed. They didn't pick up our scent so we managed to get past without turning into the next meal.

At night I would lie awake and stare into nothing, trying to wrap my mind around what had happened. The old king, Harkel, had reigned for fifteen years after slaying his bloodthirsty father and taking the throne by force. Everyone thought he was just going to fill the land with more war, but he brought peace instead, and ruled with a strength and competence that this land hadn't seen since my great grandfather's day…well, at least, that's how the stories went around the campfire when I was a child. Danny's father had always been singing the praises of king Harkel, and I couldn't help but wonder what would happen now. Already, there was a war between the new king, the imposter whose name I didn't even know yet, and the nobles loyal to the old king. Maybe there were even a few ambitious lords who had thrown in their lot hoping to claim the throne for themselves. I'd had no idea what the country's political situation was like while living safely on Danny's farm, and I had even less an idea out here in the middle of nowhere. It scared me.

"What do you think is going to happen?" I asked Danny while laying curled up in his warmth. I felt his head shake against my shoulder.

"War will lead to more war. I doubt it's going to be solved anytime soon," he said, and I turned around in his grasp to face him.

"I can go back to tumbling," I said. "Actually, dancing will probably make more profit, and my mother taught me how before the clan was killed. I'm rusty but it shouldn't take too long to re-learn if I practice hard."

Danny didn't say anything right away. I couldn't see his face, because we never started a fire at night—and thank God it was so warm out, otherwise we could have frozen. I felt his fingers brushing across my forehead, gently combing aside my chocolate-colored hair. He sighed, and a moment later I felt his lips press against my forehead. Then he kissed my nose, and finally his lips touched my mouth, and it was strange, how different it felt. He'd kissed me dozens of times before, but this time it felt different. It wasn't that he kissed me any differently, just that I felt different when he did it. He sighed again when he pulled away, and I waited as all sorts of curious things started waking up in my body. Was this usual, or was I just so scared that it was starting to affect my brain? I certainly felt addled, if nothing else.

"What was that for?" I asked.

"Mm. I just thought that was a cute attempt to make things better, little sister."

I rolled my eyes. "I wasn't trying to make things better…just…" Well, now that I'd mentioned it, what was I trying to do? "I just thought that, since we won't be able to go back to the farm for a while, I could help make a little money so we can survive."

He chuckled. "Somehow, I can't see you having any trouble surviving."

"You're not giving me an answer." I knew I was sounding petulant, but he was giving me a hard time. After living with him for ten years, it was fairly easy to figure out when he was hedging.

I heard him make a frustrated sound. "Miki, if I ever saw you up on a stage in one of those skimpy outfits, performing a dance that is meant to embody a man's every lust, I'd have to cut out the eyes of every man in the room."

I stared at him, trying to see something in the dark that would help me understand where that comment had come from. Eh? I couldn't figure out what to say, so I just leaned my head forward to rest it against his chest. I fell asleep there, and the dream came to me again. It wrapped around me like a warm mist, absorbing into my body and setting every nerve on fire. He was there, loving me, filling me so that my soul felt complete and content and obsessed all at the same time. In that dream, I craved him as I'd never craved him waking.

I gasped, and then I was awake again, and Danny was gone. It was still dark, but the half-moon was out. Where had Danny disappeared to? The place where he had lain between our cloaks was still warm, so I shoved myself up on an elbow and tried to locate him in the darkness. It looked almost bright out beyond the mouth of the cave, and I saw him crouching by the cave entrance, staring out into the countryside with his elbows on his knees and his hands braced against his head, frozen half-way through his sun-bleached hair. He looked so dejected that I was about to go to him, and paused. I don't know why, but for some reason I didn't want to go near him just yet.

I don't think he ever came back to sleep, and when the morning came I finally rose to join him. Neither of us spoke over our cold breakfast of stale bread and toughened meat, and we set out in silence that lasted most of the day. I couldn't look at him without remembering the dream. We were like siblings. Best friends, in fact. I'd seen him bed half a dozen girls, and it had never phased either of us. Perhaps we were just laid back, too blasé to think twice about who we had in our life or how close we kept those precious to us. Maybe that was just my blissful ignorance speaking, but I'd never felt so uncomfortable around him.

Damn that stupid dream. I'd never even touched a man, so where the hell were those images coming from anyway?

"Miki."

I started, and looked up at Danny. "Hmm?"

"Look." He was pointing at the ground, and I looked down. At first I didn't see anything, but then I realized that was because there wasn't just one or two footprints in the dirt that I was expected to make out. There were hundreds. A large group of horses, wagons, and people on foot had come through here. How they'd made it through this landscape with wagons was beyond me, unless it meant that we were nearing the edge of this wasteland. I followed the veritable highway of tracks into a small ravine, beyond which the path took a sharp dip into what was probably another craggy valley.

"Who do you think it might be?" I asked as he climbed off his horse and crept toward the two cliff faces that formed the ravine. He held a finger to his lips, and I shut my mouth pronto. He dropped low as he passed through the ravine, and slowed to keep his cover as he peered beyond. I wanted to ask him what he saw, but remained silent. It would not be pleasant to draw more enemies down on us.

Minutes passed, and I watched his head swivel, taking in the landscape, and who knew what else. It frustrated me that I couldn't see what he could, and slipped off of Sassy in hopes of slipping over to his side. Something moved in the edge of my vision though, and I jumped. My spook apparently affected Abyss, who neighed in surprise and reared up as men poured out from the rocky landscape around us. I was still holding his reigns, but I barely noticed when he gave my arm a yank and tried to pull away. All my attention was focused on the men that were swiftly surrounding us. I could barely believe that so many men had managed to hide so near, but they seemed to appear out of nowhere and closed in. Danny jumped to his feet and drew the sword on his back, but there was no chance for us. There were at least thirty men, and my knees were shaking by the time they had us fully surrounded. Two men stood atop the small cliffs on either side of Danny, the bows in their hands knocked with arrows and ready to fire. One group of men stood in a ring around us, swords, hammers, clubs and knives all ready, and a second ring stood back with arrows ready to fly.

My head swiveled, and cold dread filled me as I realized they wanted us alive. Such a show of strength was only needed when they wanted their prey to give up without a fight. I also noticed that their colorful clothing was wrapped around them more than sewn to fit, and realized from the style of their headdresses that they were Slavinian slavers. I'd seen them in my childhood, and never gotten over the fear of them that lived in every Gypsy's heart. Who better to kidnap and sell in another country than those with no home and no family to care about their disappearance? These men had us surrounded, and I had a feeling that the struggle I planned to put up would get me nowhere.

A rapid sting of gibberish came from one man near off to my left, and Danny looked at me, his face a blank mask. Someone behind me reached around to grab Abyss's reigns from my hands, and I let go to back away. Abyss reared up again and the man reached out a hand to calm the horse.

"Beautiful horse," said the man, and another man said,

"Beautiful girl." A low chuckle rippled through the crowd. I stood still, trying to relax my muscles so my attack would be faster.

Sassy shifted nervously, and I noticed out of the corner of my eye that Morgan had already been claimed as well. A hand fell on my shoulder and I whirled around to lash out, one of my knives coming out from beneath my skirts to slash at the man. I got him across the collarbone, and had he not been getting out of the way I would have had his throat.

He smiled at me, and I heard Danny cry out. I saw him move, and saw three men close in on him with heavy clubs.

"No!" I cried as one fell by Danny's sword, another hit him in the gut with his club, and the third hit him on the back when Danny doubled over in pain. Danny's knees hit the dirt, and someone tackled me to the ground from behind. I felt a hand shove its way up my skirt, and I kicked flipped over to kick out at my assailant. He lost his balance, surprised I wasn't as weak as I should be, and fell off my back just as I put my toes in his left eye. Another man was coming, and I flipped my feet up over my head to lash out with another kick that got him square in the chest. I heard all his air rush out, and came back down on both feet to lash out and kick his feet out from under him.

Just then, though, something hit me in the back of the head and light exploded across my vision just before the world went black.


End file.
